Leveraging the Private Sector to Improve Airport Infrastructure

As passenger volumes continue to grow and airlines worldwide expand their fleets, airport infrastructure is fast becoming a growth bottleneck.

Privatisation has an important role to play in eliminating this barrier to growth, and its execution around the world has evolved significantly over the past 25 years. During that time, key lessons have been learned from successful transactions:

Clear objectives are required to guide scope and transaction design

Well-defined governance structures are needed, to ensure the initial strategy is followed

Regulatory frameworks need to be established before privatisation is launched

Transparent communication with stakeholders is required to build public support

This paper examines those issues and outlines what can be done, by governments and potential investors, to ensure successful airport privatization ventures.